Njuguna v National Construction Authority (Employment and Labour Relations Cause 2252 of 2015) [2025] KEELRC 2439 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Interest earned on court-awarded money held in a joint account must be shared between the parties in proportion to their awards, not kept by one side.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Questions the Court framed
#The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.
- 1.Whether the interest accrued on the decretal sum deposited in the joint interest earning account should be released to the Respondent/Applicant as the successful party on appeal
- 2.If not, how the accrued interest should be apportioned between the parties
Key legal issues
#Entitlement to interest accrued on a decretal sum held in a joint interest earning account as a condition for stay pending appeal
The party who partially succeeded on appeal cannot claim all the accrued interest; the interest follows the parties' respective entitlements to the principal award
The Court of Appeal reduced the award from Kshs 6,427,435.88 to Kshs 5,979,435.88, confirming the claimant as principal beneficiary. Since the decretal sum was held in trust in the joint account pending the appeal outcome, the interest accrued should be apportioned in the same ratio as the parties' success on the principal sum. The court adopted the approach in Mbonika v G4S Security Ltd.
Legal principles established
#- Interest earned on a decretal sum deposited in a joint interest earning account pending appeal should be shared between the parties in the ratio and percentage of the award, rather than claimed in full by the party who succeeded on appeal.
Court orders
#- 1.The interest earned in the joint interest earning account to be shared out in the ratio of the award, with the claimant getting interest on Kshs 5,979,435.88 and the respondent getting interest on Kshs 448,000/-
- 2.Costs of the application to the respondent/claimant
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
Wrote the judgment
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Original and supervisory jurisdiction of the Employment and Labour Relations Court over its own decrees and conditions for stay of execution
Relief refused
#Release of the entire accrued interest on the decretal sum to the Respondent/Applicant
The court found the claimant was the principal beneficiary of the decretal sum and that interest should follow the ratio of the award, not go wholly to the applicant
Costs
Costs of this application to the respondent/claimant.
Quotable passages
#Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.
The amount definitely earned interest when deposited in a joint interest earning account and the respondents cannot lay full claim to all interest due on the judgment. The prudent decision is for the parties to earn interest based on the ratio and percentage of the award.
I do agree with the finding of the learned judge in the cited case and order that the interest earned be shared out in the ratio of the award with the claimant getting interest on kshs 5,979,435/88 and the respondent kshs 448,000/-.
Costs of this application to the respondent/claimant.
Issues in the judgment
#Judgment inconsistently describes the Court of Appeal judgment date; elsewhere it is given as 6th October 2023
Judgment states the decretal sum 'was partly awarded to the claimant in its judgment' though the appeal judgment had set aside the trial award in part
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Njuguna v National Construction Authority (Employment and Labour Relations Cause 2252 of 2015) [2025] KEELRC 2439 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Notice of Motion dated 23rd January 2025 (arising from ELRC Cause No. 2252 of 2015). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2025/2439/eng@2025-09-18
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.